“[Facebook] has been conducting due
diligence on the media measurement platform, part of its efforts to create its own advertising network for third-party Web sites to compete with Google’s DoubleClick,” AllThingsD reports, citing sources.

“If completed, [the deal] would put Facebook one huge
step closer to launching an ad network that could rival Google's in size and change the way advertising is done online forever,” writes Business Insider.

“Facebook currently
generates 86% of its revenue, which totaled roughly $1.3 billion in the third quarter, from ads that appear on its own web site,” Reuters points out.

“In theory, Facebook could use
the Atlas service to display its own ads on third-party sites, much in the way Google does now, giving Facebook yet another revenue stream,” The Verge explains.

“The development would certainly bolster Facebook’s appeal to
ad buyers wanting to connect their display units to Facebook’s expansive people database,” VentureBeat writes. “It
would also make Facebook a more threatening challenger to Google.”

Microsoft gained Atlas in 2007 as part of its $6.3 billion purchase of digital ad company aQuantive. Largely a failure,
Microsoft recently took a of $6.2 billion writedown for the unprofitable deal.